Apparatus for washing bottles



Aug. 5, '1930. s. H. MARSH APPARATUS FOR WASHING BOTTLES s Sheets-shed 1 Filed Dec. 8,- 1927 m0 kw M 4 y w -m MM. V n on 3 Jo q. E u l I A k m 5. 0M m6 A. o o a o o W o o 0 v a ATTORMEY.

s. H. MARSH rman us FOR. WASHING ao'rmss Filed Dec. 8. 192"! 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 V v INVENTOR. Samuel llomsh Aug. 5," 1930. s. H. MARSH APPARATUS FOR WASHING BOTTLES Filed Dec. 8, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet '3 IAIIVENTOR. Samuel Marsh ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 5, 1930 trib s rfas SAMUEL 1i. rannsrnon wINsron-sALnM, NORTH cAnonInnI APPARATUS son WASHING BOTTLES I Application filed December 8, 192?. Serial No. 238,562.

My invention consists in new-and'useful improvements in apparatus for washing and rinsing bottles, and has for us obyect to provide a device whereby the bottles in the procsubjected to the wheels arrangedon any axis. 7 i

A further object of my. invention is to provide means for'eliminating. the slack in the chain of cups. 7 V

With the above and other obj'ects'in view which will appear asthe description proceeds, my invention'consist's in the novel, features hereinset forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly :'pointed out in the appended'claims.

meralsof like character designatesimilar" parts throughout the several views, r

Fig. 1 is an interior, plan view ofthe ap-.

tain head and sprocket wheel, showing'my improved balanced high pressure arrangement. s

Fig. 3 is a tain head. 1

Fig. i is a plan view of a fountainhead in *the form of a quarter segment, and

Fig'. 5 is an end View of the tank, partly broken away.

plan view of one formof foun- Fig. 6 isa front view of the exterior 0011-- 451 veyor wheels, at right angles to Fig. 1, showing diagrammatically the course traveled by' the bottle conveying chain after leaving the tank.

Figs. 7 and 8 are views in sideelevati'on vand tanks are iwhereby the'cups may be conveyed around" discharge line 10, by

Referring to the, drawings, inwhich nu into said cavity from the the bottles to becleaned,

'Wardly through the top 1 plan,.respectively, of a section of my improved'bottle conveying chain, showing the cups secured theret In the drawings, It represents: a suitable tank, U-shaped in cross section, asclearly shown in Fig. 5, and havinga false bottom2, located intermediate the upper and lower eX-f tremities-of said tank. '3; designates an inlet opening at one end of the tank 1, for the incoming chain of bottles, and; 4: represents a similar outlet opening at the other end of the tank, said openings 3. and 4 being adapted to serve one another. g

5, 6,7,8 and 9, asshownin Fig. 1, the heads"- 5, 6 and 8 being in the form of half segments of-a circle, and the heads? and .9, in the form ofquarter Sflgments. These fountain heads. are all in communication with a main pump nections. i k Each of the fountain heads above referred to consists of a, main body portion provided with a circumferential'ly extending closed cavity 12, into which said line 10 dischargesJ The upper face of the body portion is provided with a seriesof apertures equipped with detachable spraying-nozzles '13 which open into said cavity 12, whereby the fluid forcedpump line, 10, isdischarged into and onto as hereinafter set forth. At a suitable point in each fountain head, I insert a cleaning'or washout plug 14, which may be; removed when it is desired to blowout or clean the fountain head. 1 I

15 represents a vertically disposed shaft mounted centrally of fountain heads. 51 and 6', in sand prooffbearings, and extending up of the tank, where I it operatively engages a suitable gear driving arrangement 16, whereby said shaft is positively driven. At the lower end of each shaft 15,'just above the fountain head, is a sprocket wheel 17, keyed to the shaft in any a suitable manner and driven thereby, said 9 wheel being provided on its periphery with a series of vertically extending grooves or as couplings when a plurality of x I to be used in communication with means of suitable cont! 8 on a pivot 25 recesses 18, adapted to engage the bottle conveying cups, as hereinafter described.

The wheels 17 are similar to the wheels 17, but are not power driven, being freely rotata ble on short non-rotatable shafts 15 in the fountain heads 7, 8 and 9, by the chain of on s.

ecured to the top 1 of the tank, immediately above the-lower fountain heads just mentioned, but oppositely disposed with respect thereto, is a series of upper fountain heads 19, also in communication with the pump line 10, having downwardly projecting discharge nozzles 20, each directly in line with the adjacent nozzle 13 in the lower head, said upper heads being in all respects identical with the respective lower fountain heads,

21 represents an endless chain conveyor comprising a series of interlocked loops or links, alternately lying in planes at right anles to the'adjacent links, as clearly shown in Figs. 7 and 8.- To the outer side of each vertical link, and alternately arranged on opposite sides of said chain. I weld or otherwise permanently secure bottle contamers or cups 22,0penat top and bottom, and adapted to The receive the neck of an inverted bottle 23. outer wall of each cup is provided with a horizontally disposed half circular lug 24, for en gaging acircumferentially extending groove located centrally of the periphery of the sprocketwheels 17 and 17 when the chain is in place, whereby said ch ainis prevented from rising off of said wheels as it travels onits course through the tank 1.

Whenthe chain of cups is in place, the cups 22 are vertical and engage the recesses 18 in the sprocket wheels, as they come in contact therewith, the positively driven wheels 17 moving in clock-wise direction, and causing the chain121 to the arrows shown in Fig. 1. p

In. order to'eliminate any slack in the chain 21, I mount the intermediate fountain head on the head 7, by means of an arm or extension body portion of the fountain head 8. as shown in Fig. 1. This pivot 25 and arm 26 are provided with conduits in communication with one another, and with the cavity 12in each of the fountain heads 7 and 8. whereby fluid connection is made between the pump line 10 and head 8, through the medium of head 7.

At the opposite end of the head 8, I provide an ear 27, to which is secured one end of a cable 28 which extends horizontally to the wall ofthe tank 1, where it passes under a nulployed, but I have ley 29 at the edge of the false bottom 2. From this pulley 29, the cable passes upwardly along the inner wall of the tank, and over another pulley 30. mounted on the top 1 of the tank at the side edge thereof. and down along the outer wall of said tank. At the outer end of the cable 28, I provide an adjustable balance weight 31 of sufficient weight to follow the course indica-ted by t 26 at the adjacent end of the shaft 15, fixed to the former.

Adjacent the outlet end of the tank 1, I mount a vertical wheel 32, rotatable about a horizontal shaft 33, its upper extremity being in direct line with the outlet opening 4 in said tank. Beneath the plane of this wheel 32, and intermediate said wheel, and the tank 1, I provide a horizontally disposed wheel 34 rotatable around a vertical shaft 35, its lateral extremities lying within those of wheel and a similar wheel 36 rotatably mounted adjacent said wheel 32 on the same shaft.

Upon emerging from the tank 1, through the outlet 4:, the chain of cups passes over and under the wheel. 32, around the wheel 3 1 on its side adjacent the tank, and then under and over the wheel 36 from whence it travels horizontally on the guide rails 37 back to the inlet opening 3 through the medium of a suitable sprocket wheel or wheels (not shown).

It is obvious, the apparatus exterior of the tank 1 may be enclosed in a suitable casing to prevent the escape of the fluid from the tank through the inlet or outlet openings.

38'represents an outletin the bottom of the tank 1, in communication with a sac tion' pump (not shown) by means of a conduit 39, and 40 designates a second conduit connected into the pressure side of said pump the tank 1, will be sucked into the pump above referred to, through conduit 39, and then forced back under pressure through conduit 10 into the feed line 10 from whence it again I passes through the various fountain heads. Having thus described the construction of any improved apparatus, the operation is as follows .7

The chain of cupsis loaded with bottles at the inlet end ofthe tank in any desired manher," with the bottles inverted as shown in Fig. 2. The driving mechanism is set into motion. causing the sprocket wheels 17 to be positively driven in clockwise direction, and at the sametime, the pump (not shown) is turned on to cause a constant flow of cleaning fluid under pressure, through the line 10, and into each of the'lower fountain heads 5, 6, 7, 8. an d 9. and the upper fountain heads 19.

Any desired cleaning fluid may be em- 7 found by experience, that the most effective compound is a mixture of sand; water and caustic soda, which, when applied under pressure, will thoroughly cleanse the most polluted bottles.

As the wheels 17 rotate, they cause the chain of bottles to travel around each of the fountain heads, following the course indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, each bottle regist-ering intermittently with each corresponding nozzle in each fountain head as it passes thereover. y f t It will be seen from Fig. 2 thatat the same time, the solid stream offluid is playing on the inside of the bottle'fromeach lower fountain head, a solid stream under equal pressure is being played on the bottom of the in verted bottle from the corresponding upper fountain head, thereby not only balancing the pressureapplied to the inside of the bottle to retain said bottle in the cup, but also cleaning the outside oflsaid bottle.

After passing over the last fountain head 9, the chain of bottles emerges from the tank through, the outlet 4, and passes over the ver tically disposed wheel 32, where therbottles are unloaded in any desired manner. I The chain of empty cups then passes under the wheel 32, around thehorizontal wheel 34, and under and over the wheel 36, from whence it travels along the rails 37, back changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention asset forth in the appended claims. i d

What I claim and desire to secure'by Letters Patent is z r 1. Apparatus for washing bottles, including a tank, a series of horizontally disposed non-rotatable fountain heads mounted in said tank, each having a plurality of nozzles and supporting a sprocketwheel rotatable there-- on, an endless chain of bottle conveying cups extending throughsaid tank passing around each of said sprocket wheels and in line with the spraying nozzles of each of said fountain heads, and means for positively drivingvcertain of said sprocket Wheels to cause said chain to travel through said tank.

2. Apparatus for washing bottles, including a tank having inlet and outlet openings,

a series of horizontally disposed non-rotatable fountain heads mountedm said tank,

each having a plurality of nozzles and supporting a sprocket wheel rotatable thereon, an endless chain of bottle conveying cups passing into said tank at the inlet opening, around each of said sprocket wheels in line with the nozzles of each of said fountain heads, and out through the outlet opening, means for conveying said chain back to the said inlet opening, means for positively driving certain of said sprocket wheels, and

means for eliminating the slackin said chain. Apparatus as claimed in claim-i2, whereinthe means for eliminating slack consists in pivotally mounting one of said fountain heads at one end, the opposite end having a cable secured: thereto, said cable passing over a series of pulleys and having a weight secured to the free end thereof.

4. In a bottle washing machine, a ser-iesof upwardly discharging fountain heads, a se ries of downwardly discharging fountain ,heads directly above said first named series, each fountain head being in line with t-herespective head in the opposite series, a sprocket wheel rotatably mounted adjacent the upper face of eachof said upwardly discharging fountain "heads, and an endless chain of hottle conveying cups ad'aptedto pass around said sprocket wheels,each-of.said heads be-.

ing in communication with a common pres sure pump line, whereby solid streams of cleaning fluid under equal pressure are played on the bottles in said cups in opposite directions, the downwardly discharging heads balancing the pressure of the upwardly discharging heads to retain the bottles in said cups. r

5. Apparatus for washing bottles, comprising a tank having a top and a false bottom, a series of upwardly discharging fOllIlllfilIl' heads secured to said false bottom, a series of downwardly discharging fountain heads secured to the under side of said top, eachupper head being in direct alignment with the opposed lower head, a shaft extending from each lower head to the respective upper head, at least one of saidshafts being positively rotatable, and having a sprocket wheel keyedthereto immediately above the lowerhead, each of said other shafts having sprocket'wheels rotatably mounted thereon immediately above their respectivelower heads, an endless chain of bottle conveying cups passing around each of said sprocket wheels, and

between the opposed uppervand lower heads, all of said heads being in communication with a common source of fluid under pres? sure, and meansfor rotating'said positively rotatable shaft.

6. In apparatus for washing bottles, a; fountain head comprising a body portion having a circumferentially extending closed cavity,,a series of discharge nozzles in the upper face of said body in communication with said cavity, a cleanlng aperture'ln one wall of said body opening into said cavity, a closure for said aperture, and a sprocket wheel mounted on androtatable with respect to the upper face of said body for conveying a chain of bottles around saidfountain head.

7. Apparatus as claimedin claim 5, where insaid tank is U-shaped in cross section and provided in its bottom with a discharge outlet, and means for conveying the cleaning fluid collected in the bottom of said tank, back to its source. a g 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the means for conveying the chain back to the inlet opening in said tank comprises a vertically rotatable wheel adjacent the outlet opening, a horizontally rotatable Wheel beneath the plane of said first, named wheel and between it and said tank, a second Vertical wheel in line with said first named Wheel, and a guide rail in line with said second vertical wheel, extending along side of said tank, hack to the inlet end thereof, said chain passin from the outlet opening over and under said first vertical Wheel, around said horizontal wheel, under and over said second Ver tical wheel, onto said guide rail, and back-to the inlet opening. 7

e In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

SAMUEL H. MARSH. 

